The Lincoln Memorial: Memory, Stone, and Unfinished Promises

On the western edge of the National Mall in Washington, D.C., stands a towering building made of white marble and limestone. Inside, a giant statue of Abraham Lincoln sits quietly, looking out toward the Washington Monument and the United States Capitol. Millions of visitors climb the wide stone steps each year. Many people think of the Lincoln Memorial simply as a tribute to the sixteenth president. However, the memorial is also a physical lesson in how nations choose to remember their history, complete with high ideals and difficult truths.

The design of the building was inspired by ancient Greek temples, particularly the Parthenon in Athens. The architect, Henry Bacon, believed that the United States represented a modern democracy born from ancient ideas. Around the outside of the building stand thirty-six massive columns. Each column represents one of the states in the Union at the time of Lincoln's death in 1865. High above these columns, the names of all forty-eight states that existed when the memorial was built are carved into the stone. This architectural choice sends a strong message: Lincoln's greatest achievement was preserving the United States as one undivided country.